‘No way…’
Hana stared blankly for a moment, then, as if entranced, hurried after the figure.
Rashiel doesn’t know my face.
Right now, she didn’t have Luel’s face, nor Elsez’s—only “Yoo Hana’s.”
If he was wandering, unable to find her, then she had to be the one to recognize him first.
But when she crossed and searched the crowd, the figure she had seen was nowhere to be found.
Pushing through people in search of Rashiel, Hana finally admitted to herself:
…I must have imagined it.
What she had seen was just a mirage.
In the cold reality without him, Hana prayed.
If you cannot find me, then please—forget me.
Don’t live in the same pain as me, wandering forever in search of someone you can’t meet.
****
Leaving work early, Hana stopped by a columbarium on the city’s edge.
After greeting the familiar caretaker, she entered.
Others were there too, visiting their loved ones on Christmas Eve.
Hana walked the familiar path with her eyes closed and reached her grandmother’s spot.
Next to the photo were flowers and a police cap Hana had placed.
“I’m here, Grandma.”
In the picture from her high school graduation, her grandmother was smiling, just as before.
That smile seemed to welcome her.
“It’s snowing so much here today. How is it there?”
“…”
“Are you, Grandpa, and Dad having a party together? I’d be a little sad if you left me out.”
On most days, she lived fine. But on days like this, the emptiness hit hard.
Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to say that aloud—not even to her grandmother.
Though she knew her grandmother couldn’t hear, she always remembered her last moments, worrying about Hana until the very end. The words stuck in her throat.
Swallowing her emotions, Hana forced a smile.
The columbarium would close soon.
She should leave. But the thought of returning to a world where she was alone made her hesitate.
She stood, staring at her grandmother’s photo for a long time.
…What is this?
The murmurs of other visitors abruptly ceased.
As though someone had muted the world.
Startled, Hana looked around—then saw the space nearby warp like paper.
It tore open, and from the gap, a familiar face appeared.
Her eyes trembled violently.
The man who stepped out was so handsome it felt unreal, like a dream.
Hana’s lips moved faintly.
I… I have to speak…
Because Rashiel didn’t know her face, she had to call out to him first.
But her voice wouldn’t come, choked by emotion.
Then Rashiel noticed her staring. His gaze stopped.
Without hesitation, he strode toward her and stood before her.
For a while, he simply looked down at Hana’s tearful face. Then, at last, he spoke.
“Hello, Ruel.”
In the very voice she remembered.
He had come for her.
After all this time, crossing dimensions into her world.
Recognizing her instantly, not as Ruel or Elsez—but as herself.
“Ah…”
The moment she met his eyes, the emotions she had pressed down—even what she hadn’t dared to share with her grandmother—burst free.
Tears spilled down Hana’s cheeks.
Without words, Rashiel reached up and gently wiped them away.
“I’m so late, aren’t I?”
“…”
“Sorry… for making you wait so long.”
Hana couldn’t stop crying.
Seven seasons’ worth of tears, held back until now, poured out.
Even so, she clung to his arm, refusing to let go.
When Rashiel looked at her hand in surprise, she sobbed out:
“What if you disappear again…?”
With a soft laugh, Rashiel unclasped her hand only to hold it firmly in his own.
He waited silently until her tears subsided, wiping her cheeks, brushing her flushed face with gentle hands.
At last, when she had calmed, Hana whispered, her voice still shaky:
“Let’s go back now. I’m ready.”
“You’ve finished things here?”
“Yeah. I took care of everything while I waited.”
Hana nodded, then suddenly gasped.
“Oh, no—I forgot one thing.”
She tugged on Rashiel’s hand and looked at her grandmother’s photo.
“Grandma, this is my boyfriend. Handsome, right?”
Rashiel didn’t fully understand where they were, but the solemn atmosphere told him: this was a place for the departed.
“Say hello. This is my grandmother.”
Bowing respectfully to the photo, Rashiel noticed little Hana in the picture.
“Cute.”
“My grandma?”
At her earnest question, Rashiel gave a baffled look.
“Of course I meant you.”
Hana smiled faintly at the photo, speaking in her heart.
When Rashiel wasn’t here, she often spoke aloud. But with him by her side, the words stayed inside.
Grandma, I’ll live happily. So please, stop worrying about me now.
When Hana looked up again, Rashiel was still gazing at the picture. Feeling her eyes, he turned.
“Don’t you have anything to say to her?”
“I already did. In my heart.”
“What did you say?”
“That’s a secret.”
Meeting her hazy, tear-bright gaze, Rashiel smiled and gave her hand a light tug.
“Shall we go?”
One last glance at her grandmother’s photo, and Hana nodded, gripping his hand.
“Yeah.”
Together, they stepped toward the still-open rift.
As they touched it, radiant light wrapped around them.
Rashiel kept his eyes on Hana’s fading image, then slowly closed them.
When you open your eyes again, a shining world will be waiting.
The world you saved—our world.
****
When Astaire entered his office, three people greeted him.
“Oh, you’re here.”
Cassian, sprawled on the sofa like he owned the place, lifted his hand lazily in acknowledgment.
Tezette, munching on cookies, only gave Astaire a quick glance.
Reti, who had been sharing the cookies, quickly shifted closer to Tezette to avoid Astaire’s eyes.
Astaire had been restricting Reti’s snack intake, in case he needed to return to his original body.
With a sigh, Astaire looked at the two uninvited guests occupying his office yet again.
“I told you both to wait in your rooms. Why are you here again?”
“It’s boring to just sit there.”
“…The pope’s office isn’t your lounge, Cassian.”
“Like you’re any better. You’ve been too restless to work anyway. Am I wrong?”
Astaire had no response.
Cassian was right—Astaire hadn’t been able to concentrate on his duties for days.
Not since the day Rashiel crossed dimensions to bring back Elsez.
Two years had passed since the final battle.
After Elsez dragged Dike into the dimensional rift, he never returned.
People concluded Dike must have died.
As for Elsez, who carried the power of the demon god, opinions were divided. But since she too had vanished, discussion about her eventually faded.
With their leader gone, the people of the Holy Nation turned to Astaire, choosing him as pope.
Some had doubts, recalling that Astaire once defended Elsez. But most, having seen the crystal recordings, chose to trust him.
It wasn’t just because of the recordings either—it was because of the way Astaire had acted all along.
As pope, his first move was to root out and punish the remnants of the Demon Resurrection Cult and temple spies who had worked with Dike.
He exposed every atrocity Dike had committed over centuries and worked to change society’s prejudice against demons.
So that, when Elsez eventually returned, she would be free of that stigma.
On top of that, Astaire had taken on raising Reti.
Since Reti needed regular doses of holy power to survive, he had chosen to remain at the temple, unable to stray far from his core body.
While Astaire was buried in his papal duties, Rashiel was focused on research.
For two years, he studied how to cross dimensions—and at last, he succeeded.
It had been exactly one week since Rashiel set off.
From that day on, Cassian and Tezette had all but moved into the temple.
Since Reti’s soul was bound to Elsez, he served as a kind of beacon—meaning if Rashiel and Elsez returned, they would likely appear nearby.
“Still, what’s taking Rashiel so long? My neck’s gonna snap from waiting.”
“He’s crossing dimensions, Cassian. It’ll take—”
Astaire was about to scold him when Tezette and Reti suddenly jumped to their feet, eyes fixed on the window.
“…He’s here.”
“What?”
Ears twitching, Reti scampered onto Tezette’s shoulder.
Tezette rushed straight to the window—and leapt out.
“Hey! That lunatic—!”
Shocked, Cassian rushed to the window himself. And when he looked down, he had no choice but to follow.
Because, in the temple’s central courtyard, a dimensional rift was opening.
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